Decapitated reviews

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"What can I say about Decapitated that hasn’t been said already? Not much as the hype around these child prodigies from Poland (though now their about 22) has been immense. They're back with their 3rd album The Negation, opening with the aptly named The Fury, it sets the pace with furious crushing riffing, precision drumming that pounds ya head in and intensely floorless lead work that twists, turns and cuts like a knife. Check out the first 30 seconds of Long-Desired Dementia. Brutal! There seems to be more old school Thrash riffs getting mixed in with the death, making The Negation a devastating and remorseless album. The only time The Negation slows down is for the track Calling with its ethereal guitar wailings. Initial copies of The Negation come in an ltd Slipcase and also includes a cover of Deicide’s Lunatic Of Gods Creation. Decapitated have delivered the goods with The Negation and Promise to deliver more in the future." - 5-5
 
"[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]When it comes to Polish black metal, Decapitated (Along with Behemoth and Vader) is a name synonymous within the scene.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After the release of 2002’s Nihility, Decapitated have returned with their fourth full-length album ‘The Negation’.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Unlike many within the death metal scene, Decapitated don’t rely on corpse paint, overtly demonic imagery or ham fisted gore obsessed lyrics to get their message across. The do however deliver a brutality that rarely lets up from the beginning of the album to the end, while at the same time incorporating some progressive elements within their expansive musical delivery.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The opener The Fury clearly shows a progression in production values that far outshines their previous efforts, while musically the band have trimmed away some of the more technical aspects of the instrumentation, making way for a more straight ahead death metal delivery.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The slower paced Lying And Weak gives The Negation some nicely timed breathing space in amongst the speed dominated blast beats and bleak black powered destruction, while the technical proficiency of old Decapitated is clearly still within them in tracks such as Sensual Sickness and Long-Desired Dementia.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The instrumental track Calling is little more than a short eerie sounding guitar piece that eventually leads into the title track. Again, the brakes have been placed on the usual speed delivery, giving the band a chance to slip into a groove that simply dwells on the intensity of the riffs summoned up.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The closing track The Empty Throne is perhaps Decapitated’s most experimental number within the lead guitar work and the deceptive time changes, which also marks it out as being one of the albums highlights by far.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Proving that there’s more to black metal than just image and blatant blasphemous baiting, Decapitated have delivered another no-nonsense platter of extreme music that delivers with conviction and without the unnecessary extras."[/font]​

Beat magazine - Justin Donnelly
 
Gday Blessed :wave:

Review courtesy of Dom Lawson from Kerrang Australia magazine

"It was obvious from the first few seconds of Decapitated's 1997 Cemeteral Gardens demo that something special was happening over in Poland. Even ignoring the fact that drummer Vitek was only 12 years old at the time, it was an assured first effort; easily a match for 90 per cent of what was then an unremarkable global death metal scene.
Seven years later and plenty has changed. Death metal has experienced a creative boom that few expected, with bands such as Nile, Immolation and Hate Eternal taking the genre into new realms of brutality and ingenuity - Hell, even old hands such as Deicide and Morbid Angel are making great records again. Decapitated, still barely out of their teens, now find themselves at the forefront of a thriving genre, with plenty of stiff competition daring them to surpass their already considerable achievements. After two devastating albums, 2000's Winds Of Creation and 2002's flawless Nihility, the onus is on the Poles to prove that they're up to the task.
But how do you top an album such as Nihility? A perfectly balanced merging of immaculately produced technical death metal and some of the catchiest riffs the genre has ever spawned, it came as close to perfect as such things ever do. But, remarkably, The Negation genuinely is even better. Again, the production is absolutely pristine; every kick drum beat a hammer-blow to the chest, each of Vogg's warped, muscular riffs roaring from the speakers, frontman Sauron's guttural bark a menacing presence in the foreground. Combine that level of sonic might with material this stunning and faultlessly played and you have the band's second classic in a row. From the staccato swagger of Three-Dimensional Defect to the lumbering, choking vacuum of the title track, this is extreme metal taken to a whole new level, with vast amounts of passion, inspiration and technical skill combining to better the senses and fire the imagination.
There are like-minded bands, including some of those mentioned above, who currently enjoy greater popularity and record sales, but the fact is that in 2004 Decapitated are the best death metal band in the world." KKKKK
 
"Decapitated just keep getting better - the Polish death metallers' third outing is a spectacular and commanding listen. Savage yet technically perfect, 'The Negation' is both suffocating and invigorating.

The aptly-titled opening track The Fury perfectly sets the tone for the carnage which ensues. Decapitated roar through track after track of fast-paced death metal which extends its US old-school foundations with pivotal but subtle technical nuances: kind of like how Morbid Angel would sound if they were still good. With ferocious blasts, flagellating drum rolls, crushing riffs and guttural barked vocals, 'The Negation' is relentless without being repetitive. The album shifts gears often with tempo changes, progressive leads and the odd "experimental" fill which add depth and texture to the sophisticated and intelligent songwriting. Following four tracks of uncompromising savagery, 'The Negation' slows up mid-way with The Calling: an eerie instrumental consisting mostly of feedback. It's an odd little piece, but it's essentially a preface for the title track. The Negation is an immense song, weighed down with groove, and is less memorable than some of the more breakneck tracks but contains one of the best - and one of the most absurdly fast - solos on the album.

It's all complemented by the stunning production, although some might say that the album is over-produced. 'The Negation' is the kind of album that hurts your ears; overly loud, even at normal volume. But the resulting sound is clear yet still thick, dense and overwhelming. It's all over in only 30 minutes, but 'The Negation' is an enormously powerful reminder of what it is we love about extreme music."

Db magazine http://www.dbmagazine.com.au/332/cd-Decapitated.shtml